Research Paper on:
Social Stratification and Theories of Social Class

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
balanced sides in which neither side is greater than another does not fit, nor does the circular context of a sphere. As is pointed out in Chapter Four, "Power  and Social Class," people can be ranked by numerous attributes ranging from demographic realities to personal beliefs or physical stature. Yet the fact remains that humans most often choose to  establish social class based on a matter of rising from a large base of homogeneity to a pinnacle of the elite or the unique. Ultimately, the stratification of social class  (and power) results in an unequal distribution of political and economic power. Characteristics of Stratification The system of human social stratification requires that people acknowledge that they are, as individuals,  part of a much larger group of people that share certain similarities with them. For example, a "middle-class" neighborhood in "middle-America" would denote a broad range of characteristics -  values, economics, lifestyles, political opinions -- which are held in common and are, ostensibly, representative of "mainstream" America. From the sociological perspective, all human societies develop social stratification which, in  turn, results in the development of specific classes of people who occupy certain positions in the larger development of a society. Function and Conflict Theories of Social Class Not surprisingly,  theoretical frameworks for understanding the process associated with social class have been crafted by philosophers and social theorists for centuries. Most notable among such theories are those based in  terms of how social lass is developed as related to either their functionality or their level of conflict. For example, one of the great premises upon which American ideology  has been developed is that every- and anybody has the right and opportunity to rise to whatever level of social they possibly can in American society. The text points